Osteria Romantica

You have to love an Italian restaurant where you can order in Italian, as my Italian companion did. And my other lunch companion decided to test the wait staff by ordering off the menu. The waiter was perfectly up to the challenge.

The ambiance is warm and accommodating.a perfect setting for renewing ties with old friends.

LaJolla’s Osteria Romantica - exceptional Italian food. Best linguini with garlic & oil I’ve ever had!

Was just ok. The service was good, but as far as Italian food goes, it was very American style: the chicken was dry, and the pasta wasn’t fresh. Tasted like something I would make at home. On the flip side, I think it would be good for picky eater kids.

I was slightly disappointed eating here. The food lacked seasoning, even the tiramisu was not very good, which I have never had subpar tiramisu before so I was a bit surprised. I ordered the Ravioli Portabello and the sauce was very bland. They also said it was homemade ravioli on the menu, but I am skeptical (no proof of this, just to me did not taste homemade). The service was pretty good, but I felt a bit rushed. It was very loud inside, but I can't fault that for them, they had a lot if customers so that happens anywhere you go.

Service was great especially with how busy they were. Food was beyond delicious, I tried the beet and goat cheese salad, and the squid ink seafood pasta and both were excellent. Absolutely recommend!

Everything about this place is so good. It brought back memories from my time in Italy. The food was outstanding. Service was flawless. The employees and owner were all so very friendly and kind. Very knowledgeable and the menu and had good recommendations when we were debating between two dishes or two wines.

One of the most authentic Italian restaurants I have ever dined at, and that’s probably because the owner comes from Italy. This is my go-to favorite restaurant in town. The food is delicious, the prices are reasonable, and the staff is warm and welcoming. Even on a super busy night, patrons are met with a smile and a shout of “buona sera! ”. I don’t even like eggplant and their eggplant appetizer is my favorite thing in the menu! Never had a bad meal here in the 15 years we’ve been eating here. Grazie, Fabio!

Love the food. Nice ocean breeze if sitting outside.
Waiters are all nice and friendly.
Love to take my friends and family for any celebration
Just have to find parking!

Consistently good. The Artichoke appetizer is a must have! One of my favorite dishes that brings me back again and again.

This place was a gem. We finished a kayak, snorkeling trip and we're tired and hungry. We stumbled in and found great authentic food at reasonable prices. I would recommend this to anyone.

What a delightful dining experience! Very authentic Italian! Ordered my niece's favorite Linguine Mare and asked to substitute it with black linguine. White sauce had a delightful spice to it. Mussels and shrimp cooked to perfection. And the squid ink in the linguine gave it less of a doughy, eggy taste and more of a briney taste that complemented all of the layers of flavor. Enjoyed the Antipasto Italiano, La Bruschetta appetizers along with the homemade bread and marinara instead of a salad before our meal.

The food is good, but we got tired of them really fast. I got the risotto and it was a little too creamy. It was really hard for me to finish due to it's greasy creamy feeling. My girlfriend also got tired with her food pretty quick too because of it's creaminess.

One of the best lunches we have had in La Jolla. Food is excellent and service is impeccable. The gnocchi was creamy and perfectly cooked. The mushroom risotto was buttery. The salmon with asparagus, farfalle and vodka sauce was light delicious. Highly recommend.

Had an amazing dinner, Vincenzo recommended the best pasta I have ever had so far FETTUCCINE ORTOLANE. Friendly and professional service!

My friend took me to this darling, apparently popular restaurant. Her being a regular there, they allowed us to sit in the back corner. The food was fantastic. The authentic Italian food was super rich in flavor with blends that cause your taste buds to get robustly excited.

Can u tell I fell in love with the food? I love Pesto. Pesto loves ️ me. Their pesto is to die for. Not overwhelming salty, but perfectly blended with considerable Pesto taste.

We shared their artichoke Appetizer. And wow wow wow. So good. I could have eaten 10 more. You can eat every bit of them. No scraping the leaves with your teeth. Just cut and savor the flavor.

Then their amazing beet salad again had such a wonderful blend of ingredients. Fresh arugula, goat cheese, walnuts, maybe another nut.whatever they put in this salad was so delicious.

Then I had the Pesto Linguini. Oh wow. The dish was perfect. Craving for more already.

My friend had a halibut dish and shared me some halibut. I love fish and this dish was PERFECTLY prepared. The fish was light and moist.

The dessert was a lemon creme cake that was beautifully displayed. It was truly perfect. Light, enough lemon flavor, and so good. Then we topped it with a cup of cappuccino that gave me the zing I needed after a barrel load of food.

Fabio the owner was kind, the servers were quickly serving people going back and forth like mighty ant warriors. They all spoke italian, and I loved the dishes they spoke about which rolled off their tongue. Osteria Romantica. It's a complete experience. They checked on us at least a half dozen times even though it was super busy. Yes we had to wait a little for water refill and extra pesto. But overall. Such service!

Delicious fresh Italian food. I highly recommend the artichoke appetizer and any pasta. My mom got the fish (pictured) which she loved, too.

Exquisite Italian on the coast. I had the day's special, Seafood Risotto, and the seafood was fresh and delicious. Definitely will be back.